Dear Editor,
There is a petition circulating that proposes to eliminate our right to vote for four of the five county commissioners, in exchange for suppressing Middle and Upper Keys voters’ right to vote for or against “our” Key West commissioner.
Monroe County is governed by a five-member Board of County Commissioners who are elected countywide for four-year terms. To maintain countywide representation, one commissioner must live in each of five districts. Every two years, one county commissioner is elected to serve as county mayor. (Editor’s note: The county mayor is not an elected position, but rather the seated commissioners select a mayor from among themselves.)
Recently, one of our neighbors served as county mayor at the start of the pandemic. She was the face of many tough decisions that affected people’s lives and livelihoods. When she stood for re-election, she was defeated by voters from the Upper Keys, who suffered under some of the county’s COVID restrictions, despite support for her in Key West.
Should the people in Key Largo, who lost their businesses due to the COVID blockade, have the right to vote the county mayor out? Living at the far end of our island chain, our lifeline extends through the length of the county. When the county commission votes on policies regarding the Card Sound Bridge, the Snake Creek drawbridge, U.S. 1 or hurricane evacuation, should we have five commissioners looking out for us, or just “our” one commissioner?
To prevent voters from the Middle and Upper Keys from voting out “our” Key West commissioner, the political action committee (PAC) behind the petition for single-district voting proposes to suppress their right to vote. In exchange, we must give up our right to vote for or against the current county mayor, who is from Marathon, and the three other county commissioners.
Currently, all of the county commissioners respond to all of us, as we have the ability to vote for or against all of them. With “single-district voting,” we will be represented by only one of the five commissioners. The other four will not be accountable to us.
Giving up our right to vote for or against ALL of the county commissioners is to suppress our own right to vote, and give up local control.
Sincerely,
John Walsh
Key West
